Type-writing machine



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. B. HARNSBERGER & E. WRIGHT.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

No. 573,654. PatentedDemZZ, 1896-.

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Patented Dec. 221896.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

A. E. HARNSBERGER &=E. WRIGHT.

TYPE WRITING MAGHINE.

Patented De rZ Z, 1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUDLEY E. IIARNSBERGER AND EDWIN IVRIGHT, OF STAUN TON, VIRGINIA.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,654, dated December 22, 1896.

Application filed May 18, 1895. Serial No. 549,770. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, AUDLEY E. HARNS- BERGER and EDWIN WRIGHT, of Staunton, in the county of Augusta, and in the State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type \Vriting Machines; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of our machine Fig. 2, a front elevation; .Fig. 3, a side view thereof; Fig. at, a section upon line a: a; of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a section upon line y y of Fig. 1; Fig. 6, a detail perspective view of a portion of the carriage feeding-plate and a portion of the carriage rack-bar.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts in each of the figures.

The objectof our invention is to provide a type-writing machine that will consist of few parts, so as to enable it to be manufactured and sold at a low cost and the liability of getting out of order diminished, and which atthe same time will be capable of performing firstclass work with all required speed.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the type-writing machine and in the construction and combination of the parts thereof, substantially as hereinafter described.

Our invention belongs to the class of typewriters in which the printing-characters are fixed upon a disk or wheel that is adapted to be revolved by each of a series of keys a predetermined extent to place a particular character in printing position.

In the carrying of our invention into practice we employ a flat rectangular table or base A, which may be of wood or other ma terial, upon which we mount the parts of our machine. Supported above the transverse center of such base and extending from a point above its rear edge forward to a point about half-way to its front edge is a shaft B, that upon its front end carries the type-wheel C. At its rear end the shaft B is journaled within a block D, that is pivoted by and between two opposing screws (1 and d, that are respectively tapped through two forked arms 6 and 6 upon the upper end of a standard E,

which is suitably attached to the base A. At a point in rear of the type-wheel C said shaft passes through and is journaled by a Vertically-movable plate F, that is grooved within its opposite edges to engage and be guided by two uprights g and g, that rise from the middle portion of and are support-ed by a plate G, which extends crosswise of the machine and at each end is supported above the base A by means of a standard II.

Meshing with a pinion I upon the shaft B, in rear of the sliding plate F, is a horizontal rack-bar K,that engages the under side of said pinion and is attached to and is movable horizontally with a horizontally-reciprocable plate L, placed at the rear side of the plate G and guided in its movements between the same and arms or fingers M and M, attached, respectively, to the two standards H and H. Pins or lugs g and g, projecting rearwardly from the plate G into slots l and Zin said plate L, support the same in connection with the fingers M and M. Said plate L is designed to be moved by each of a series of keys N and N, that are pivoted at their rear ends to a horizontal shaft 0, upon which they turn freely and from which they extend forwardly to a point in front of the plate G, said plate having for each of the keys a slot g through which the same passes and by which it is guided in its vertical movements.

For each key the plate L is provided with a slot or notch Z, extending from its top edge downward to a point below its vertical center, one side of which slot is vertical and the other side inclined in its upper portion and vertical in its lower portion. Normally the plate L is in such position that the inclined side of the slot is in the path of the key when the same is depressed, so that the key will engage the incline, and thus by its downward movement cam said plate L sidewise, and thus, through the rack K and pinion I, rotate the type-wheel O. The amount of movement given the plate L depends upon the degree of inclination of the side of the slot, and it will be apparent that by giving a different inclination to the slot for each key each key will impart a different amount of rotation to the type-wheel 0. To avoid the necessity of moving the plate L more than enough movement to revolve the wheel 0 through more than a semicircle, the slots in the plate are not all inclined in the same direction, but those for all of the keys to one side of said Wheel incline the same way, while those at the opposite side incline in the opposite direction. The keys at one side of the type-wheel revolve the latter in one direction and those at the other side revolve the same in the opposite direction;

Secured rigidly to the shaft 0, so as to turn therewith, are two forwardly-extending arms and p, Fig. 1, one at each end of the machine, whose front ends are connected by a plate P, arranged in front of and close to the slotted guide G and below the keys N and N, and is adapted to be engaged and moved downward by each when the same is depressed. Said arms 1) and p are respectively adapted to cooperate with the ends of the plate L, which are inclined, as shown, and which by the movements of the plate when the keys are depressed are projected in the path of said arms when they are permitted to move up under pressure of a spring 1), that engages each. Said plate is thus restored to normal position after having been moved by a key N, being cammed in one direction by one arm 19 and in the other direction by the other arm p Preferably, to relieve the springs 19 of the burden of lifting the keys N and N, each of the latter is provided with a spring q for liftin g it, said spring havinga coil passed around a rod Q in rear of and parallel with the shaft 0, from which extends two arms, one of which engages the lever and the other a fixed abutment or stop, preferably a rod q, that runs parallel with and is attached to the same supports as the rod Q.

The printing of the desired character is effected by depressing the type-wheel so as to carry the character upon its under side into contact with the paper while suitably supported, and it is to enable the wheel to have the necessary vertical movement that its shaft is jonrnaled in the pivoted block D and the slide F. For moving the type-wheel downward there is attached rigidly to the shaft 0, upon opposite sides of the shaft B, two forwardly-extending arms R and R, that are connected near the front ends by a cross-bar S, which at its transverse center has a forwardly-projecting lug .9, whose front end, or by preference a screw 8 carried thereby, is

adapted to engage the top of said slide F and move the wheel 0 downward. Each arm R at its front end has a downward extension 0", that is attached to the front side of the plate I, and hence said arms have power applied to them both by the shaft 0 and said plate P. To enable the rack K to move downward, it is supported at each end upon a coiled spring 'l, that is placed around a pin 2, which extends upward from a bar U and passes through an opening in an extension of the rack-bar, and which bar U is suitably attached to and supported by the plate L. The two pins tand tserve to guide and steady the rack-bar in its movements, but there is preferably employed therewith a central downwardly-projecting arm is, that is slotted to engage a stud or pin Z upon the plate L. The rack-bar K is held from possibility of disengagement from the pinion I by means of a horizontal bar V, that engages the shaft B upon its upper side and is attached bydownward extensions 1; and o to the rack-bar.

The plate L is steadied in its reciprocations at its central portion by means of a plate WV, that engages the rear side of the bar U, said plate being attached by a horizontal portion '20 to the upper end of a standard X, which is secured to the base A.

To enable the diameter of the type-wheel O to be as small as possible and also to diminish the number of keys N and N required, the characters are not arranged upon said wheel in one circle, but preferably in three parallel circles, lower-case letters being placed in one circle at the front edge of the wheel, capitals next, and numerals and punctuations in a third circle at the rear edge of the wheel. Normally the line of lower-case letters is in position for printing, and'to place either of the other lines in such position we shift the type-wheel forward. For this purpose we place upon the shaft B,n-ear its rear end, an annularly-grooved collar Y, with the groove of which engages the rear forked end of a lever Z, that at its front end is connected to a transverse shaft A bya crank l3 upon said shaft, which latter is suitably supported from the plate G and which is adapted by either one of two levers or keys D and D to be rocked, so as to move the shaft B longitudinally forward.

To enable the two levers to rock the shaft A the variable amount required to place one line of type-characters or the other in printin g position and to be movable independently of each other, one is fastened to and moves with the shaft A, while the other is pivoted loosely upon the said shaft, and alongside of the same is fastened to the shaft a collar E, having a tooth or lug c" with which a pin or stud (1 upon the side of the key is adapted to.

The shaft B and type-wheel O are moved.

in opposition to the levers or keys D and D by means of a spring H, that is attached at one end to the lever L and at the other end to the standard E. Although when a key N enters the lower straight portion of its slot in the shift-able plate L the wheel 0 is re strained or held thereby from vibration, it

IIO

has been found desirable to supplement this with a disk 1 upon the shaft B, immediately in rear of the wheel 0, and provided in its periphery with a number of V-shaped notches corresponding in number to and alinin g with the characters in each circle of type. A horizontal pin K, projecting normally from the plate G, is adapted to cooperate with each of said notches when the disk is depressed with the shaft and wheel 0, and rigidly hold the latter while printing.

Ink is supplied to the characters upon the type-wheel C from two small rollers L and L, placed at each side thereof and resting in contact therewith.

For supporting the paper being printed upon we employ a carriage that has an open rectangular frame H, which upon its front and rear sides is provided with grooved wheels on and m, that run upon two parallel tracks or rods N and N, attached to suitable standards rising from the base A, and having such length as to permit enough movement of the carriage to feed the paper its entire width. Lugs or projections from the under side of the frame M engage the under side of each track N just beneath each wheel m and serve to prevent the carriage from being lifted from the tracks.

At each end of the frame 1 there is a vertical plate 0, to which, at its rear edge, is attached one end of a bar P, having at'its top edge a horizontal flange 1 Fig. 5, that constitutes the platen or support for the portion of paper being printed upon. Just in front of said bar is a rubber-covered feed-roller Q, that is journaled by said plates 0 and O, and at each end, outside of a plate 0, carries a ratchet-wheel q and g The ratchet-wheel q is the feeding one, and it cooperates with a pawl R, that is pivoted to an arm 0"", which in turn is pivoted to the outer side of the plate 0 and which is limited in its swing by two stops S and T, the former of which is adj ustable to permit variation in the throw of the arm, and hence in the rotation of the feedroller. Said arm 1' is moved in one direction by a spring 7 to retract the pawl after it has been moved by pressure of the thumb to rotate the roller. The other ratchet-wheel, is simply to prevent back rotation of the roller, and cooperates with an ordinary dog or pawl The paper is held in contact with the roller Q by the rear edge of a curved shield or guard U, that is hinged at its lower front edge to the frame M and is caused to press the paper yieldingly' upon the roller by means of a spring V.

For feeding the carriage along automatically to present a new surface for printing a bar W is attached to the carriage in rear of and parallel with the platen-bar P, and which has projecting from its rear side a row of short pins or studs w and w. Attached to the front side of the plate P are two wedgesha-ped lugs 29 and 10 having each a straight and a beveled side, the apex of one of said lugs being up and that of the other being down. Said lugs lie in different horizontal planes and operate in succession upon pins 10 and 20 upon the depression and lifting of the plate P to feed the carriage onward. One half of the feed is effected upon the descent of the plate P, such half being, of course, completed before the printing-character touches the paper, while the second half is completed upon the ascent of the plate P. It will be noted that the feed is positive and involves the use of no spring or the like to draw the carriage along.

To enable the carriage to be moved backward to print a new line, the rack-bar \V is movably mounted upon two headed pins or screws X and X, that project rearwardly from the bar W, so as to be capable of being moved toward the latter to carry the pins w and w out of the path of the feeding-lugs p and 19 A coiled spring encircling each pin X operates to normally press said bar \V from the bar P, so as to place the pins in position to cooperate with the lugs 19 and p and movement of the bar W in the opposite direction is limited by stop lugs or pins 20 and 10 adapted to strike the rear side of the bar P. Each end of the bar W has a handle 10 bywhich it may be moved against the stress of the springs as and 0c, and preferably the roller-turning pawl R is provided with a handle in such position relative to that of the adjacent handle 10 thatboth may be grasped simultaneously by the thumb and forefinger of one hand and thus the Withdrawal of the teeth of the bar 7' and the turning of the roller to feed the paper be done at the same time.

The operation of our machine will be readily understood. To place a sheet of paper upon the carriage, the guard or shield U is lifted out of contact with the roller Q, the paper passed between the same and over the platenbar P and then said shield allowed to engage the paper and hold the same against the roller. At each depression of a characterkey N the plate L is moved longitudinally to cause the rotation of the typewheel 0 to place the proper character in printing position, and the frame, composed of the plate P and arms p and p, is depressed, causing, through the medium of the arms R and B and the parts S and F, the depression of the Wheel-shaft B to print the character upon the paper. The lifting of the key and the various parts depressed thereby is effected by the several springs hereinbefore described. Be sides serving to effect the depression of the type-wheel the frame P and p and p serves to restore the plate to its normal position and to those in the first line of type upon the wheel 0, the appropriate lever D or D is depressed to move the wheel-shaft B longitudinally, and while held in this position the desired keyN is operated.

For feeding the carriage without printing, for spacing purposes, a key is attached to each of the frame sides 19 and 19. Instead of the rack and pinion for rotating the type-wheel we may employ such a connection between the type-wheel shift and the plate L as that shown in Fig. 7, where a cord or band Y is attached at one end to the plate at each side of the shaft and at its other end is attached to and'coiled around a sleeve Z on said shaft, the direction of the coils of the two cords of course being opposite, so that one will operateto revolve the shaft in one direction, while the other will revolve it in the opposite direction. To permit the shaft to move longitudinally of the sleeve and yet be rotated thereby, a slot-and-pin connection is employed between said parts.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is 1. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a suitable paper-support, the typewheel having several lines of characters, devices for printing from said wheel, keys or levers mounted on a common shaft, and an arm on the latter connected with the typewheel, said keys being adapted to impart a variable movement to such shaft, substantially as and for the purpose shown.

2. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a suitable paper-support, the typewheel having several lines of characters, devices for printing from said wheel, the longitudinally-movable shaft carrying said wheel, keys or levers mounted on a common shaft, an arm on the latter, and connections between said arm and the wheel-shaft, said keys being adapted to impart a variable longitudinal movement to the latter, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a suitable paper-support, the typewheel having several lines of characters, devices for printing from said wheel, the longitudinally-movable shaft carrying said wheel, a rock-shaft connected with the wheel-shaft, akey fixed to the rock-shaft, a key loose thereon, and a projection fromsaid shaft adapted to cooperate with the loose key, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a type-writing machine, the combinanation of a suitable paper-support, a typewheel, a shaft carrying the same mounted in movable bearings, one of which is a sliding plate, a guide for said plate, a series of keys for operating the wheel, and a swinging frame adapted to be moved by each key and having a part to engage the sliding plate to move the type-wheel toward the paper-support, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

' 5. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a paper-support, the type-wheel, its

tion of a paper-support, the type-wheel, its

shaft, a pinion on said shaft, a rack-bar meshing with the pinion, a sliding plate carrying said rack, a yielding connection between the plate and rack, a series of key-s adapted to give a variable movement to the plate, and means actuated by each key for moving the type-wheel toward the paper-support, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a paper-support, the type-wheel, its

shaft, mounted in movable bearings, one of which is a sliding plate, a series of keys for operating said wheel, a swinging frame adapt ed to be operated by each key and having a part to engage the sliding plate to move the type-Wheel toward. the paper-support, and means for steadying and guiding said wheel as it is moved toward such support consisting of a notched circular piece, and a relatively fixed lug to cooperate with each notch in said piece, substantially as and'for the purpose set forth.

8. In a type-writing machine, the combination of the carriage having a rack-bar, the reciprocating key-actuated plate, and the two alternately-acting lugs upon said plate, one of which moves the carriage when the plate is moved in one direction, and the other of which moves said carriage when the plate moves in the opposite direction, substantially as and for the purpose shown.

9. In a type-writing machine, the combination of the carriage having a rack-bar, a typewheel, the sliding plate connected to said wheel, the series of keys for reciprocating said plate, aswingin g key-actuated frame, the part thereof for shifting said plate in opposition to the keys, the part carried by said frame for moving the type-wheel toward the paper, and the feeding devices upon said frame for acting upon the carriage rack-bar, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

10. In a type-writing machine, the combination of the type-wheel, the sliding plate connected therewith a series of keys for imparting a variable movement to said plate, and a swinging plate adapted to be moved by each key that is adapted to actuate the typewheel to cause the same to print, and has portions that engage inclines at opposite ends of the sliding plate to move the same, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

11. In a type-writing machine, the combination of the'type-wheel, the sliding plate connected therewith having a series of notches with inclined sides, a series of keys tocooperate with said notches, a swinging frame We havehereunto set our hands this 26th day adapted to be moved by each key having of April, 1895.

arms that en a e inclines at opposite ends of 1 the sliding pfat e, and means actuated by the E %Q% swingingframe to move the type-Wheel to nause the same to print, substantially as and Vitnesses:

for the purpose shown. T. A. PACE, In testimony that we claim the foregoing AUBREY BURNETT. 

